Spratly Islands

English Etymology en British whaling captain Richard Spratly = 1 who sighted the islands in 1843. Pronunciation sprǎt′lēSpratly Island 1814 2 Spratly Island (sprǎt′lē),Also called Storm Island. en /ˌspɾat.lɪ ˈʔaɪ̯.lɐnds/ Philippines en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Spratly Islands.wav Southern England Proper noun Spratly Islands A group of islands, atolls, reefs and cays in the South China Sea. en April 21, 1939 w:T. A. Bisson Roosevelt Appeal Jolts Dictators Foreign Policy Bulletin https://archive.org/details/sim_foreign-policy-bulletin_1939-04-21_18_26_0/ XVIII 26 w:Foreign Policy Association 0429-0720 2447007 2-3 https://archive.org/details/sim_foreign-policy-bulletin_1939-04-21_18_26_0/page/n2/ On the other hand, two moves by Japan during this period may have a certain significance. The first was announcement of Japanese occupation of the Spratly islands on March 31, complemented by the annexation, on April 18, of a group of reefs and islets 300 miles long between French Indo-China, the Philippines and British North Borneo in the South China Sea.The line of least resistance, however, clearly lies toward the south. France and Britain, in particular, would have small military and naval forces at their disposal to protect their eastern possession; or the oil of the Dutch East Indies—for Japan the greatest prize of all. The occupation of Hainan and the Spratly islands has already pointed the way. Only one serious obstacle threatens attainment of this objective: the United States. en 1942 w:William Henry Chamberlin Can Japan Rule East Asia? Japan Over Asia https://archive.org/details/japanoverasia0000will/ Revised and Enlarged Garden City, NY w:Blue Ribbon Books 1384203 424, 430 https://archive.org/details/japanoverasia0000will/page/n455/ Japan has strengthened its naval position during the war by occupying Hainan Island, located midway between Hong Kong and French Indo-China and squarely athwart the sea route from Hong Kong to Singapore, and the Spratly Islands, off the coast of Indo-China, a little group of coral reefs which may be useful as advanced submarine bases.Japan remained relatively passive during the first weeks of the new crisis generated by Hitler’s eastward march and the efforts of Great Britain to forge a wall of resistance among the East European countries. The seizure of the Spratly Islands, a small group of coral reefs off the southeastern coast of Indo-China, was a minor operation, although this would certainly not have taken place if France had not been too much concerned in Europe to assert its right of ownership over the Spratly group. en 20 January 1945 Seven New Year's Days https://archive.org/details/7NewYearsDays/ Army Talks III 2 5 https://archive.org/details/7NewYearsDays/page/n6/ In the eastern hemisphere the Japanese occupied the island of Hainan off French Indo-China; annexed the Spratly islands further south, between Indo-China and Borneo; and continued local gains in north China. en May 11, 1975 ROC still holds Spratly Islands; no Red challenge Free China Weekly https://archive.org/details/sim_free-china-weekly_1975-05-11_16_18/ XVI 18 0016-0318 1786626 Taipei 1 https://archive.org/details/sim_free-china-weekly_1975-05-11_16_18/ The Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are still occupied by troops of the Republic of China, according to Major General Li Chang-hao, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense. en 9 October 2010 Charles S. Hutchison; V.R. Vijayan What are the Spratly Islands? w:Journal of Asian Earth Sciences https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S136791201000129X 39 5 10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.04.013 1367-9120 37342149 As far as can be determined, all of the Spratly Islands are capped by active coral reef and there are no other rock outcrops. Most of the ‘islands’ are under water at high tide, but some maintain a partial low elevation of a rim surrounding a lagoon, in which case they are sparsely vegetated and inhabited by sea birds. There are no indigenous human inhabitants, but tourists visit for diving and fishing and the military occupy many for territorial claims. https://web.archive.org/web/20240425101115/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S136791201000129X 25 April 2024 en 05/21/2015 Chinese navy warns off U.S. reconnaissance plane over Spratlys https://web.archive.org/web/20220927212007/https://focustaiwan.tw/cross-strait/201505210028 27 September 2022 w:Focus Taiwan Cross-Strait A United States P8A surveillance aircraft flying near the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea on May 20 was asked by the Chinese navy to leave the area. en December 26, 2023 Wesley Rahn Why the South China Sea was turbulent in 2023 w:Deutsche Welle https://web.archive.org/web/20231226135155/https://www.dw.com/en/why-the-south-china-sea-was-turbulent-in-2023/a-67758940 December 26, 2023 https://www.dw.com/en/why-the-south-china-sea-was-turbulent-in-2023/a-67758940 Conflicts On December 10, a flotilla of 40 boats set off from the Philippine coastal town of El Nido in Palawan province to a group of islets and shoals in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, parts of which are claimed by several countries. en Synonyms en Spratlys from Filipino en Kalayaan from Mandarin Chinese en Nansha from Vietnamese en Truong Sa Translations islands Chinese: Cantonese: yue 南沙群島 naam4 saa1 kwan4 dou2 Mandarin: cmn 南沙群島 Nánshā qúndǎo Finnish: fi Spratlysaaret French: fr îles des Spratleys f-p, fr Îles Spratleys f-p German: de Spratly-Inseln f-p Indonesian: id Kepulauan Spratly Japanese: ja 南沙諸島 なんさしょとう, Nansa shotō, ja スプラトリー諸島 Supuratorī shotō Korean: ko ^스프래틀리 군도 Malay: ms Kepulauan Spratly Russian: ru острова́ Спра́тли m-p Spanish: es islas Spratly f-p Tagalog: tl Kapuluan ng Kalayaan, tl Spratly Islands Vietnamese: vi quần đảo Trường Sa References Further reading en 1998 Spratly Islands or Nansha Islands Saul B. Cohen The Columbia Gazetteer of the World https://archive.org/details/columbiagazettee03cohe/ 3 New York Columbia University Press 0-231-11040-5 98-071262 164337564 3003 https://archive.org/details/columbiagazettee03cohe/page/3003/ 1 pn en eponyms en Islands Places in Brunei Places in China Places in Hainan, China Places in Malaysia Places in the Philippines Places in Kaohsiung Places in Taiwan Places in Vietnam